Core Belief
THE GOOD NEWS!
John 3:16
Our story and the story of the universe begins with a perfect God who created the world out the overflow of his love. In his perfect creation, God gave humanity the invitation to live a perfect world, serving and ruling over creation alongside their good and gracious Father. However, humanity distrusted God and rebelled against His good commandments. As a result, sin entered into the world and brought brokenness into our relationship with physical creation, with one another, and with God Himself.
However, the good news is that even though we have sinned against God, we can be restored to him because of the work of Jesus Christ! In Jesus' name, He displayed true perfection, living as every human should. In His death, Jesus took on the punishment for humanity's sin, making it possible for sinful humans to be restored to a holy God. And in Jesus' resurrection, God proved that he accepted Jesus' sacrifice for us, by raising Him from the dead.
To become a Christian and accept this good news, one must turn from their sin and trust in Jesus alone for salvation. The Vine Church would like to invite you to receive new life in this good news and help you grow in your relationship with Jesus, our Saviour. We look forward to meeting you and growing in Christ together!
1. Scripture
God the Holy Spirit inspired men to write the Bible as God's only revelation to humanity. Through the sixty six books of the Old and New Testaments, God has revealed his character, commands, and means of salvation for people. The Bible has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. All Scripture is inspired by God and therefore profitable for Hod's people. The Bible is the sole authority for the Church, and all other belief and conduct is subject to its supreme authority. From Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures work together to tell the story of redemption. which finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God incarnate. While the Bible should be interpreted through the abilities of the mind, it can only be applied through the work of the Holy Spirit who gives understanding.
Verses : Psalm 19; Luke 24:44-46; Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21
2. God
There is one living and true God, who is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal being. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinitely holy and perfect. God is all powerful and all knowing, including all things past and future, open and secret. To God alone, humans owe worship, love, reverence, and obedience. God reveals Himself to humans as the Holy Trinity : Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity has distinct personal attributes, without division of God's nature, essence, or being.
Verses : Psalm 19; Luke 24:44-46; Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21
3. Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and obeyed the will of God, taking upon Himself a human nature, yet without sin. His perfect obedience led him to be crucified on a Roman cross, taking the penalty for the sins of the world. Forgiveness and atonement for sin comes only through Jesus' perfect life and substitutionary death, which is applied to all people who repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ. Jesus was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God. Jesus ministers as the prophet who fully reveals the Father, the priest who fully atoned for the sins of His people, and the king who eternally rules, judges, and protects all creation in justice and peace. Jesus will return in power and glory to judge the world and to complete His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
Verses : Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-25; John 14:7-11; Philippians 2:5-11
The Holy Spirit is fully God and is the third person of the Trinity. He revealed the will of God to humanity, through the inspiration of the Scriptures. He saves and sanctifies believers for the building up of the church to the glory of Christ. He enables humans to understand truth and convicts them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The Holy Spirit calls people to Jesus, leading to regeneration and conversion. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He gives spiritual gifts which serve God through His church. He seals every believer providing true assurance of salvation. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism. and service.
Verses : Genesis 1:2; John 16:7-15; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-13
4. Holy Spirit
4. Holy Spirit
5. Salvation
Salvation is the work of God in bringing dead people to life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Under the fallen condition of Adam, humans are spiritually dead without Christ and are under the condemnation of God. Original sin is imputed through the sinful nature of Adam and the guilt of his sin. Salvation comes through the atonement of Christ, which is sufficient to satisfy the wrath of God for all who repent of their sin and place their faith in Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire person to Him as Lord and Saviour. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. As the Holy Spirit gifts an individual with faith, God moves this faith to regeneration and repentance, ensuring a changed life by the gospel. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit brings spiritually dead persons into a union of spiritual life in Christ. In justification, God declares his righteousness and favor for all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. In sanctification, the Holy Spirit sets apart believers to God's purposes, and moves them toward moral and spiritual maturity. In glorification, God brings believers to the culmination of their salvation, which is the final blessed state of the redeemed. The gospel along with the call to repentance and faith must be preached to all nations and people. God is the agent of salvation at every point in the believer's life. All praise and glory in salvation is reserved for God himself, for it is his gift to sinful humans.
Verses : Genesis 3:15; John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8-10; Ephesians 2:8-22
6. Humanity
By the outpouring of His love, God created humans in His image as his special creation. God created humans male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is therefore part of the goodness of God's creation. God ordained the holy union of marriage to be between one man and one woman. Through Satan's temptation, humankind rebelled against God, and fell from their original innocence. Though humans were created with original righteousness and the ability to have dominion over creation to bring God glory, humans disobeyed God's prohibition and were broken by the curse of sin. Through the imputation of Adam's sinful condition, sin brought physical and spiritual death in the world and distorted the image of God in humanity. However, by the promise of redemption and through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the image of God is restored to those humans who trust in Christ for salvation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human beings is evident in that God created man in His own image and through Christ's death for humans. Therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Verses : Genesis 1:26-30; Psalm 8:3-6; Romans 3:10-23; 2 Corinthians 5:17
7. Church
A local church is an intentional organization that is self-governing, sustaining, correcting, and reproducing. The Universal Church consists of all genuine believers from all nations over all time, while the local church consists of local bodies of baptized believers. The defining marks of a true local church are the right preaching of God's Word and the right administration of the two ordinances, believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper. A church patterned after the New Testament should be congregational in government, and its two offices are elders and deacons, with their qualifications and duties as mandated by Scripture. The ministry of the church is to fulfill the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), and this responsibility is given to all believers. Church discipline guards the integrity of the church and must be intentionally redemptive for members.
Verses : Matthew 16:15-19; Acts 2:41-47; Ephesians 2:19-22; Revelation 7
8. Baptism &
the Lord's Supper
Baptism is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism symbolizes the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Baptism is done through the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of meditation, obedience, and celebration according to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The bread symbolizes the body of Christ which was physically broken on the cross. The cup symbolizes Jesus' blood, which was poured out on the cross for sins. Through sharing of the bread and the fruit of the vine, the church remembers the death of Christ and anticipates His second coming. Only baptized believers in appropriate spiritual standing before God are able to share in the Lord's Supper.
Verses : Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 22:19-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29